Tuesday, 22 January 2013
What to expect and what not to!!!!
Every now and then I, like many other Chelsea supporters
come across the tweet or facebook status of the people who display their
outrage over their “Favourite Chelsea Player” not given a chance by already
much hated INTERIM manager Rafael Benitez.
Well, I can understand the reaction of the fans to some
extent because everyone would like to see the player they like on the pitch
rather than on sidelines. I will not at all argue about that. But the main
question is, is he deserving of a ahead of already star studded and very
effective midfield?
It was reported that he was undergoing special training to improve his fitness levels and that training was prolonged for some reason and hence he has failed to break into the team as hoped by many. That could be the reason why we have not seen him much in an action. But is it the only reason? To be honest I don’t think so!
Once touted as German Messi was signed from Werder Bremen for
as little as 7 million in the summer to replace outgoing Kalou or Malouda on
the wings. Injuries have hampered him all the while in last few years and
despite all this everyone was excited to see German International in this team.
But people were ignoring the fact that he appeared for the national team only
for handful times and was not selected for Euro 2012. And even after that he
was overlooked by the National team manager in International Friendlies.
In his last season with Werder, he played out of his
position, much in the centre of the pitch than his preferred wing position and
contributed less than a little for the goals. And many in the German media
believed that he never reached the heights expected from him when he first
broke into the limelight mainly because of injuries
.
And despite all this we signed him. One could say that, as
he was signed as a replacement for outgoing Kalou, he was going down mainly as
a squad player rather than a week in week out player and the fee involved was
bargain. But in my opinion, it was fair price than calling it a bargain. But it
was sad to see him going on to treatment table immediately.
One other theory, in which I believe largely, was that he
was signed as a cover rather than a first team player. We were linked with
Hazard at that time. I know that it was not publicized much at that time
considering Marin announcement went public in late April but it would be
irrational to think that we were in race for Hazard only after our Champions
League triumph. Surely, things would have gone behind the scenes. And as Hazard
was toying with every top club in the league, it was far from safe to say that
he would eventually end up at Chelsea. So was it the reason to sign Marin? To
cover this uncertainty surrounding Hazard on any other prolific signing? I
believe it was the reason why we signed Marin in the first place.
Talking about his future at Chelsea, I don’t see it much
different than it is right now. I don’t think he will be able to break into
this team and considering the rise of Moses, he has fallen down even further in
pecking order. And reports coming from Germany make us believe that Bruyne is
going to be at Chelsea next season, fighting for his place in starting XI.
So where does all this lead Marin and his future? To be very
frank, the answer in my opinion is, “Away from Stamford Bridge”. I don’t see
him at Chelsea next season. And it would be in the best interest of all the
parties concerned. I wouldn’t see that he will be sold but loan move for the
season seems most likely followed by permanent move later on. And I don’t see
him leaving in January, he will definitely be here till the season end.
Let’s hope he does well for us and make us prove wrong.
Saturday, 8 December 2012
Where: Stadium of Light in Sunderland.
When: Saturday, Dec 8, at 08:30pm IST.
Watch: ESPN (India)
After their early exit from the Champions League, Chelsea travel to The Stadium of Light to face a struggling Sunderland side who are just 1 point above the drop zone. Although Rafa Benitez might be pleased with his first win as the Chelsea manager which came in the midweek Champions League game against Nordsjaelland, he still doesn't have a win under his belt after 3 League games. Chelsea go into this game with one of their worst league form in 18 years with a winless streak of 7 games (4 D, 3L).
Already 10 points behind league leaders Manchester United, The Londoners would be looking for all three points to gain some momentum as they head to play the FIFA Club World Club next week. The squad has lacked confidence due to the absence of their leaders John Terry and Frank Lampard. Terry has been ruled out for another couple weeks although midfield maestro Lampard is fit for this game which will be a boost to the team’s confidence.
Sunderland have had their own problems this season with only 2 wins (1 home win against Wigan and an away win against Fulham). Manager Martin O’Neill has come under intense scrutiny with his side’s performance this season and would be desperate to turn the table and get a few wins.
Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole is expected to be out for another two months after damaging knee ligaments. Whereas defender John O'Shea and top scorer Steven Fletcher are both in contention for this game.
Head to Head:
Jan 14, 2012 Chelsea 1 - Sunderland 0
Sep 10, 2011 Sunderland 1 - Chelsea 2
Feb 1, 2011 Sunderland 2 - Chelsea 4
Nov 14, 2010 Chelsea 0 - Sunderland 3
Jan 16, 2010 Chelsea 7 - Sunderland 2
Chelsea have won 14 out of the last 15 games against Sunderland and have won on their last 5 visits at The Stadium of Light. Although something to note is that Chelsea have just won 1 out of their last 19 away games in the Premier League.
Predicted Line Ups:
Sunderland - Mignolet; Bardsley, Cuellar, O'Shea, Rose; Larsson, Gardner, McClean, Johnson; Sessegnon, Fletcher.
Chelsea - Cech; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill, Cole; Romeu, Oscar; Hazard, Mata, Moses; Torres.
Saturday, 8 December 2012
Friday, 30 November 2012
Chelsea travel to Upton Park to face off against West Ham
this weekend. After a good start to their premier league campaign, both teams would
be looking for a win as they have had a miserable run of results over the past
one month. With Chelsea seemingly under more pressure, as they enjoyed being
league leaders for the first couple months and now they are 7 points adrift of
leaders Manchester United and 6 behind Manchester City.
West Ham go into this match after 2 straight away defeats
against Tottenham and Manchester United, while Chelsea are looking for their
first win in the league since 20th October as they have lost 2 and
drawn 4 games since then.
Torres has now failed to score for over 10 hours in the
league but as Sturridge still a doubt for this one, Benitez would have no other
option but to have faith in the Spaniard. Chelsea have had two goal less draws
since the appointment of Benitez, and the team has just scored 1 goal in their
last 4 games in all competitions. So, it’s definitely a cause of concern for
the manager to try and get the team back to scoring and winning ways.
West Ham has managed to keep a clean sheet in 3 out of their
seven games played at Upton Park having conceded only 6 goals in the 7 games
played at home. And they even managed a goal less draw against reigning English
Champions Manchester City this season. Only four teams including Chelsea have
conceded less goals than West Ham in the league this season, although scoring
goals has also been a problem for Sam Allardyce's side having scored only 16
goals in the first 13 games.
Recent Form:
West Ham - LLDWD
Chelsea - DDLLD
Head to Head:
Apr 23, 2011 Chelsea
3 - West Ham 0
Sep 11, 2010 West
Ham 1 - Chelsea 3
Mar 13, 2010 Chelsea
4 - West Ham 1
Dec 20, 2009 West
Ham 1 - Chelsea 1
Apr 25, 2009 West
Ham 0 - Chelsea 1
Based on the past record, Chelsea seem to have an edge over
the east London side having won the last 3 games in their visit to Upton Park. Although
it would be anything but easy for Chelsea to get all the 3 points against the
Hammers tomorrow in what seems to be an exciting derby to watch.
Predicted Line Ups:
West Ham United - Jussi Jaaskelainen; Winston Reid, James
Tomkins, James Collins, Guy Demel; Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble, Matthew Jarvis,
Mohamed Diame, Joey O'Brien; Andy Carroll.
Chelsea - Petr Cech; Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole; Ramires, John Obi Mikel, Oscar; Juan Mata, Eden Hazard,
Fernando Torres.
Prediction – West Ham 1-2 Chelsea.
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Friday, 30 November 2012
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Match Preview – Chelsea vs Fulham, 28th November
2012.
It’s been over a month that the European Champions
have had a slump in their form. A slump which started on 23rd October with an
away defeat at the hands of Ukrainian Champions Shakhtar Donetsk in the
Champions League. A slump which has seen Russian billionaire owner Roman
Abramovich wield the axe over the Champions League winning manager and a club
legend Roberto di Matteo. Chelsea has just managed to win 2 matches in their
last 9 matches in all competitions. The latest being a draw at Stamford Bridge
against English Champions Manchester City. This was also the first match in
charge for the club's new interim manager Rafa Benitez who has not had a warm
reception from the Chelsea faithful.
Fulham who find themselves on the top half of the table in the 10th position are level on points with Liverpool. Goals have come easy for Martin Jol's side as they are the 2nd best in goals scored this season with 25 goals same as Manchester City and only United's 32 goals ahead of them.
Fulham who find themselves on the top half of the table in the 10th position are level on points with Liverpool. Goals have come easy for Martin Jol's side as they are the 2nd best in goals scored this season with 25 goals same as Manchester City and only United's 32 goals ahead of them.
Having said that, looking at the league form, Chelsea's last
win in the EPL was on 20th October 2012 against Tottenham. Since
then Chelsea has lost against title rivals Manchester United and West Brom and
have drawn against Swansea, Liverpool and Manchester City.
This midweek derby against Fulham is definitely going to be a
game of intense pressure on the players and the new boss Benitez who is very
well aware of the club's and owner's ambitions. Fulham manager Martin Jol has
already mounted pressure on his counterpart Benitez by saying that this is a
must win game for Chelsea.
And co-incidentally Fulham has had a very similar league form
like their neighbors Chelsea. Having lost the last 2 games against Stoke and
Sunderland and drawn against Arsenal, Everton and Reading, even Fulham's last
win was on 20th October 2012 when they beat Aston Villa at Craven Cottage.
Fulham’s
scoring has been courtesy some team work with Dimitar Berbatov (five
goals), Mladen Petric (four), Steve Sidwell, (three) Damien
Duff (three) and Bryan Ruiz (five assists) all helping to try to forget the summer loss of Dempsey and Dembele.
On the other end, Chelsea's striker problems continue with
their 50m signing Fernando Torres who hasn't found the net in the last 544
minutes played in EPL. Daniel Sturridge who has had an injury prone season is
still unfit for this match. The board must be regretting their decision to let
go Belgian Romelu Lukaku on loan to West Brom who has scored the same number of
goals (4) as Torres in the league having played 418 minutes (3 starts) compared
to Torres's 1102 minutes (13 starts).
So as the two closest London rivals go head to head, here is
a look at the head to head record between the two teams:
The last 4 encounters between these sides have ended in a
draw.
Fulham have never won at Chelsea in the Premier League, in 11
visits. They last experienced victory in the league at Stamford Bridge in
October 1979.
With only three points out of a possible 15 in its last five
league games, Chelsea now find themselves 4th in the table, 5 points behind
leaders United and a point behind WBA. A win tonight will do wonders for the
team’s confidence and also make things easy for new boss Benitez.
Predicted Line Ups:
Chelsea – Cech, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Luiz, Cole, Ramires, Mikel,
Mata, Oscar, Hazard, Torres.
Fulham - Schwarzer, Riether, Senderos, Hughes, Riise, Duff,
Baird, Sidwell, Dejagah, Petric, Berbatov.
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Tags :
Benitez,
Chelsea,
Fulham,
Hazard,
Mata,
Match Preview,
Oscar,
Stamford Bridge
Friday, 16 November 2012
In this new series called "Jewels From Around The World" we will be posting about some of the budding talents who have got all the potential to be world class player. Though this is pretty much not directly related with Chelsea, we think that this section will keep informed our readers about many grooming youngsters.... We hope you will enjoy this section....
Lucas Moura
Lucas Moura, a name perhaps forgotten among the rich crowd of superstars Brazil has at the moment. He is of a special batch of Brazilian Internationals including the types of Leandro Damiao, Neymar Jr., Oscar Dos Santos, Hulk, etc. Lucas Moura attracted attention from all the major leagues in the summer of 2012, as Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus, Chelsea, Manchester United and PSG were all interested in signing the so called Next Big Thing from Sao Paulo. This sparked a bidding war among the clubs, and surprisingly, the richness of PSG would be where Lucas will be stepping into for his next level of development. The Brazilian League does have a large host of young talents, often dubbed as the ‘next-someone’, but not all have managed to live up to their billing. Impressing only at Sao Paulo, Lucas Moura had to warm the bench for Brazil because of perhaps Neymar, Oscar and Hulk being more established than him. So the world hardly knows much about this wizard.
Standing at 5ft 8in, Lucas Moura may not be the tallest of midfielders any team could have. However, his beauty lies not in his aerial ability, but in his ability to absolutely dominate and humiliate defenders. Capable of playing on both wings, Lucas has also excelled as a second striker, however, his lack of decisiveness to play the final ball at times, have cast doubts of his role behind the target man. He is that kind of player, who would rather take on a defender rather than pass the ball to a team mate, and thus often end up spurring chances. Ofcourse, the 20 year old has a long way to go in his career, where his potential is massive, and the only real question would be to understand what the limit is for this young attacker.
An amusing combination of skills, strength, speed and aggression, Lucas Moura is exactly what most fans want to see in a young attacker for their team. In a country where the Great Ronaldinho has mastered the skill of La Elastica, Lucas Moura performs it quite effortlessly. He can also be seen at times go past not one, but multiple defenders through his acute dribbling. He also has an amazing awareness of the environment around him with or without the ball, often seen nutmegging a charging defender from blind side to the fans amusement. This saying, he isn’t too clinical in front of goal. So, spectators will well enjoy his trickery rather than his goals. Lucas Moura certainly is not a player who waits for his team mates to get the ball for him; he tracks back for defending and helps out his team while trying to get back the ball for the team.
Having sealed a January move to French outfit in a mega rich deal, Paris Saint-Germain, the world would well be looking for what the young man can offer to the strengthening of the team. In a transition period, Lucas Moura might find it hard adjusting to a team that boasts a wide array of stars like Argentine star Lavezzi, and ofcourse the controversial Swede Zlatan Ibramovich. But it sure will be worthy to see how far this young lad can go if he happens to make up a healthy partnership with the superstars in the team. And ofcourse, the world will be with their eyes wide open to understand why super teams like Real Madrid, Chelsea, Inter and Manchester united were after this young gun and just how far can he go, and in the process take PSG with him.
Info
Name: Lucas Rodrigues Moura Da Silva
DOB: 13th August, 1992
Pos: Winger/ Attacking Midfielder/ Second Striker
Ht: 5ft 8in
Nat: Brazil
Current Club: Sao Paulo (pre-contract with PSG for January 2013)
Stronger Foot: Right
Career Goals: 18 (73 appearances)
Strengths: Trickery, Pace, Strength
Weakness: Average Passing, Low success in scoring, weak aerially
Resemblance: Neymar’s trickery + Lennon’s pace
this post is written by Tushar. You may follow him on Twitter by clicking HERE
Friday, 16 November 2012
Tags :
Brazil,
Lucas Moura,
Neymar,
Oscar
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
BYE BYE KING DIDIER
STAMFORD BRIDGE WILL MISS YOU
Drogba Leaves the Club on Highest Note
I bet almost everyone of you will not be agreeing with me at all over what I am writing but still I couldn't stop myself from posting this.
 |
| Stamford Bridge Will Miss You |
If you ask me, I am really happy that Drogba will be leaving the club at the end of the season. He couldn't have found the perfect time than this to say goodbye to Stamford Bridge faithfuls. He was signed by the club with high hopes and he did not fail to live up to the expectations. Only thing which was missing and which was the most important thing for the club was bringing Champions League trophy to the club, perhaps the foremost reason why he has signed from Marseille in first place. We all endured the troubled times in Europe till now and the trophy just played with our hearts till last Saturday when Drogba and Company put an end to the wait and bought Roman the trophy he wanted all the time.
And certainly Drogba was one of the most influential player on the pitch that day and scored the equaliser and thumped the spot kick in the goal to secure our name on trophy. Everyone at Chelsea will remember that moment till their last breath and will be thankful to him for his immense contribution.
But to tell you the truth, I feel that, no other time would have been perfect than this to part the company after so much of a love between fans and the player. He brought home the trophy which we all craved and we all believed that this could have been the last chance for the old guards to win it together and the players did it.
Is it the beginning of breaking down of the old guards? The likes of Lampard, Terry, Cech and Cole? perhaps not all will leave in one stroke but one of the gem has already fallen. and what a time it is to part away? JUST PERFECT. Is it the time to build the new guards? Build the new Chelsea around the likes of Mata, Luiz, Torres, Ramires and Company? Will they carry on the glory the old guards brought us? Only the time will tell.
At last, Me and all the Chelsea Fanatic team would like to say THANK YOU to Didier Drogba for EVRYTHING. You are irreplaceable in our hearts and will always be the Legend in our eyes. We all hope that you will have future has bright as you had at Stamford Bridge and wish you all the best for your new endeavours.
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Tags :
Champions League,
Chelsea,
Drogba,
Frank Lampard,
John Terry,
Opinions
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Today we will go head to head against Benfica in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal match at Stamford Bridge. and we will be hoping for a semi final place for the first time in last 3 seasons of this competition.
People may argue that we won with just the one goal and Benfica gave us tough time in that match. Their travelling manager and his team would be happy with this argument than any one else. There is no denying that Benfica gave us good fight last week and we had to keep knocking on the door again and again to find the breakthrough. but still we won, though it was with marginal difference, the fact is we won! They have been formidable opposition while playing at Estadio da Luz and have given tough fight to any travelling team in UCL. hence, the win, though it doesn't guarantee our place in Semi Finals gives us big boost to play on our own ground tonight. Still taking Benfica lightly will be the last thing one can think at this stage of the competition. Di Matteo and players have said the same thing again and again to the media.
I am not taking anything away from Benfica but I believe we will tonight. I believe that we will get past them and book our ticket for Semis. On the other hand, I think we will have to keep digging this time again. Benfica isn't the team which will bow their heads against opponents, and they have got nothing to lose tonight. Hence more pressure is upon us than them so it makes me think that they will be more attacking than us. but still the end result will be in our favour (hopefully). But the fact that we have won every game of UCL competition played at Stamford Bridge this season is really joyful and will give us extra confidence to the men in blue.
 |
| Keep The Blue Flag Flying High |
Win tonight will be more than welcoming considering the way season has unfolded this time around. Though the prospect of facing Barcelona is nervous affair, I for one can't wait to go face to face with them. We have got unfinished business to deal with: and I am hopeful that we can overcome them with our positive mentality.
Well, facing Barca is another talk, let's focus on Benfica for tonight. Let's Keep The Blue Flag Flying High and High and High.
(photo taken from footballwallpapers.com)
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Tags :
Benfica,
Champions League,
Chelsea,
Match Preview,
Stamford Bridge
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
As we head towards first league of Champions League Quarterfinals of this season, our friend Felipe, who is Benfica fan had very good and long chat with us about Chelsea and everything concerned. We would like to share our talk with you people as well.
1-How is Chelsea now, after a very bad phase that ended when AVB was sacked?
 |
| THE OLD GUARDS |
We actually look like as a team for the first time this season. Players seem to be united and look like playing for each other and for the team. There seems to be good harmony between the players and team spirit is also very good at the moment. These are the things which visibly lacked under AVB.
2-Which Chelsea players may be more crucial tie against Benfica this?
2-Which Chelsea players may be more crucial tie against Benfica this?
The old guards!! Likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba are the kind of players which any team would like to have at its service at this stage of competition. Their experience is immense and if used properly like Di Matteo did against Napoli they will play crucial role in Chelsea's run in Europe. Also Mata and Ramires are important players for Chelsea against Benfica.
3-What Chelsea fans know about Benfica?
3-What Chelsea fans know about Benfica?
Benfica is really good team. They topped the table which had Manchester United in the group. They were impressive against reigning Premier League Champions and also against Zenit, where they overcame first leg deficit to reach the quarter finals. Also they are lying second in the league at the moment and could go on to win it as well, despite their nervous draw this weekend. So all in all, this team is not easy to play against by any means and every Chelsea fan is well aware of it.
4-What do you think of Drogba’s reaction when the draws came out? Doesn’t it look disrespectful? Is he too complacent?
Drogba is funny character. He loves doing such funny things at training ground. I guess he was relieved to see that we aren't facing likes of Madrid or Barcelona in quarters. But taking Benfica lightly will be suicidal and I am pretty sure Didi doesn't have any plan to be complacent while playing against Benfica.
5-Chelsea has two former players of Benfica. Ramires and David Luiz. What Chelsea fans think of these two players?
5-Chelsea has two former players of Benfica. Ramires and David Luiz. What Chelsea fans think of these two players?
These players have been very good signing. Ramires had started his life at Stamford Bridge not so comfortably and many Chelsea fans were actually wondering why we spent so much on this player earlier last season but as the season progressed he started to show his real qualities and proved his worth. This season he has been the player whose name is first on the starting lineup no matter which is the opposing team.
Luiz on the other hand had glittering start after his transfer last January but this season he has attracted fair share of criticism. He has been bit of inconsistent and still learning the game but for us Chelsea fans he already has been cult hero here and we love to see him on the pitch.
6-Fernando Torres is little criticized by Chelsea fans because he doesn’t score goals as often as he did at Liverpool. What's up with El Nino?
Criticized by Chelsea fans? Nope, don’t think so at all! We seem to be only fans of his who have stood firm behind him despite his worrying goal record since joining Chelsea. We all have supported him and will keep doing so. He is trying very hard to get back to his best and we all can see that so we won't be criticizing him. He has assisted plenty goals this season, (15 if I am not wrong), and I am pretty sure, once he starts to get better service from the midfield we will see his name on score sheet more often than not.
7-In addition to poor results, do you think there are more reasons for AVB’s sack?
7-In addition to poor results, do you think there are more reasons for AVB’s sack?
He tried too hard and tried to change things too quickly. He and Roman had plan but he failed to implement it properly. If reports are to be believed he fell out with many senior players for so many reasons and if you don't have these senior players at your side your life is always going to be difficult at Chelsea. I agree with what Lampard said about him - he started to forget the present in the thought of future.
Had he managed these things better, we could have seen different Chelsea at this moment.
8-Why after Mourinho, no manager has been able to replicate his success?
8-Why after Mourinho, no manager has been able to replicate his success?
Mourinho leaves his legacy behind wherever he goes. He consumes the club with his aura and it makes difficult for new manager to fill his place. He entertains you with his comments, topics to talk about and wins you plenty of matches and trophies as well. Whenever new manager comes at Chelsea, he is always compared with Mourinho, instead of giving him his own time and space. It creates more pressure on manager. Also the way Mourinho bonded this team together, no manager has been able to do upto that level. Hence I believe no coach has been as successful as Mourinho at Chelsea.
9-Think the policy of Abramovich is the right for Chelsea?
9-Think the policy of Abramovich is the right for Chelsea?
As in sacking of manager? Giving answer YES or NO is difficult. He has been pretty impatient with the managers as history suggests. No manager has been allowed to settle at Chelsea and if the team started to go through poor form, manager has been blamed for it and shown exit door. We thought after appointment AVB that now we will be able to see some managerial consistency at last but that wasn’t meant to happen. We all know that this constantly revolving exit door has cost club millions of pounds as well but still, it’s Roman’s club and he does what he thinks is the best.
10-Do you think AVB was ready to manage as big club as Chelsea at such young age?
If you ask me, if one has got the talent and confidence to carry it then your age, experience cannot really be barrier. He proved his abilities with Porto last season. I will never say that Chelsea was too big club for him to handle. He made mistakes at Chelsea, there is no denying in it but still I will not say that Chelsea came too early in his life for which he wasn’t prepared for.
11-How is your perspective for Tuesday's game against Benfica?
11-How is your perspective for Tuesday's game against Benfica?
Chelsea will be cautious against Benfica tonight; couple of away goals in the bag will really ease the pressure. And we are winless in last 2 matches so win tonight will be extra boost for us. But I guess Benfica will make us pretty tough competition over two legs and it will be good footballing encounter between these two clubs.
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Tags :
Andre Villas Boas,
Benfica,
Champions League,
Chelsea,
David Luiz,
Drogba,
Frank Lampard,
John Terry,
Jose Mourinho,
Mata,
Ramires
Monday, 5 March 2012
As a devoted Chelsea fan I am ashamed to admit this but I am growing disappointed and embarrassed by the sheer lack of stability at the club. The rapid sacking of managers, regardless of the reason, has made Chelsea Football Club the joke of English Football today. Manchester City has a better reputation in terms of managerial tolerance than Chelsea, a reputation which I am not proud of. This must simply stop happening.
27 million pounds, the figure reported to be spent on the sacking of AVB, alone. Spending 13 million to sign him in the first place, is almost 40 million pounds spent on signing the manager in the first place. Some might argue that AVB was Abrahmovich's big plan doomed to fail from the very beginning. However, for once it felt as if the young man would come in and build some sort of long term structure at the club and shape it to make it his own. I hoped he would bring some much needed stability to the club and employ the youth. Alas, neither happened.
AVB's appointment came only after Abrahmovich's previous infamous sacking of the extremely successful Carlo Ancelotti, the Italian who now manages Oil Rich Paris Saint Germain. The Italian surpassed Mourinho to claim the Domestic Double, the first in Chelsea's history. 12 months on he was out of the club because he had no success.
Roman Abrahmovich has invested over 1 billion pounds into Chelsea Football Club and the fans are definitely grateful but he needs to stop interfering in management matters. This was a point raised by Ray Wilkins to Abrahmovich at a board meeting, the result was that he was sacked immediately. The sacking of Ray Wilkins set us on a run of bad results and no success that has claimed the jobs of Ancelotti and now Villas Boas.
Since Mourinho was sacked due to his personal differences with the manager no man has held down the job at Chelsea. But Abrahmovich continues to be motivated by the need for European glory and so he has sacked every man who even seemed to fail to bring him that success.
Chelsea FC has become a toy for the owner who has tried to establish his own ideals at the club. Abrahmovich brought managers to the club hoping that they could play an attacking brand of football that he fell in love with. He brought managers hoping they could win the silverware he wanted. He brought managers who he hoped would buy the players he wanted. However, this is not how a football club is managed.
The League Managers Association has constantly criticized the clubs sacking of managers. However, Chelsea FC makes no effort to change. We are headed down a path of no success and its about time Abrahmovich realized it. He needs to instill a manager and let things happen without any of his intervention. Unless he does this Chelsea Football Club will continue to be ridiculed by the Football universe.
Monday, 5 March 2012
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
It came as a sigh of relief to all Cfc fans. At last it feels great to taste a comfortable victory. And guess what the best part is? It was thoroughly deserved victory too. The team looked and played like a team after so long. But the notable thing was that there were some changes in the line up from the expected one. So this arises the question, is this the best CFC line up that AVB can field?
I feel it was. With the players we currently have, this was the best looking line up. The main strength came from the presence of ‘the bison’ Essien in the holding mid field role. He wasn’t to noticeable in the game I know. But it was his brilliant positional sense and slick passing that kept our midfield engine running. Frankie assisted him in the tackling aspect with some brilliant defencive tackles and positioning. Ramires carried on his usual job of running all over the park, though I was a little bit disappointed with his performance ( poor passing at times and decision making ) But the midfield was balanced, with the passing of Lamps, powerhouse of Essien and the energy of Ramires.
Though people may moan that we don’t have a built for the task right back, Ivanovic’s involvement and
importance is quite priceless. His superb positional sense and precision tackling help Ashley Cole to wander up ahead with having three centre backs behind him. So in a way Ivanovic balances the usual Chelsea style.
I was also very pleased with the effort Didier Drogba took in. His clever turns and brilliant sense of passing was a joy to watch. He seemed more like the old Drogba, less bullied the defenders though. Mata (apart from the assist) was missing for me. I still feel it is quite useless to employ him in the wings where his small size is exploited by the defenders. At the centre of the park as a attacking midfielder he can be THAT man who can beat a defender and feed the striker. Sturridge was quite lively forcing the keeper some good saves.
Lastly, to mention the centre backs, Gary and David were not the best of centre backs yesterday but showed promise and a future partnership between the two can be expected. I didn’t miss Petr Cech, but he had quite a calm day.
I still wish the formation could had been this way, with the same set of players:
With this Essien can give the defencive support. Juan can be the attacking midfielder and Danny will be happy with at last given a chance to play centre forward where we all hope that he can deliver more than what he is doing now.
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